Baar, Switzerland, April 27, 2026, 16:02 CEST
Glencore plc’s push to bring Argentina’s Bajo de la Alumbrera copper mine back into service gained a fresh marker on Monday after Sandvik received an order to supply three DR413i rotary blasthole drill rigs for the restart. A rotary blasthole rig drills holes for explosives used in open-pit mining.
The timing matters. Glencore is due to publish its first-quarter production report on April 30, giving investors a near-term check on a copper plan that has become central to the miner’s growth case.
Sandvik said the order was booked in the first quarter of 2026, with the first rig scheduled to arrive in Argentina in April and the other two due in the fourth quarter. The Swedish engineering group will also rebuild and maintain other drill units for Glencore, and said Alumbrera is expected to resume operations in 2027, with first production slated for 2028 and output projected at about 73,000 metric tons of copper through June 2031, alongside gold and molybdenum.
Maximiliano Davico, Sandvik Mining’s business line manager for rotary drills in the Andean and South Cone region, said Sandvik was “delighted to support Glencore” on the restart. He said the DR413i’s automation features and design should help “lower operating costs, improve safety.” Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology
Glencore said in December it planned to restart operations at Alumbrera by the end of next year, with production likely in the first half of 2028. The company tied the move to Argentina’s tax incentives for large investments, stronger copper and gold prices, and a better outlook for both metals.
The project is not big enough on its own to reshape Glencore’s portfolio, but it is a visible test of delivery. The company has told investors it wants to lift copper output to 1 million tons by 2028 and 1.6 million tons by 2035, while trimming its 2026 copper target to 810,000–870,000 tons after setbacks at Collahuasi in Chile, where Anglo American is a partner.
That puts Glencore in the same crowded lane as Rio Tinto and other large miners seeking more exposure to copper, a metal used in power grids, construction, data centers and electrification. Rio’s failed approach to Glencore earlier this year showed how scarce large copper-heavy portfolios have become and how hard mining megadeals remain to execute.
Glencore shares were lower in London trading, with Hargreaves Lansdown showing the stock down 1.20% at a sell price of 551.40 pence and a buy price of 551.70 pence, while the FTSE 100 was down 0.13%. The same data showed a market value of about 64.53 billion pounds.
There is still risk around the restart. Drill delivery is an early operational step, not production. Permits, site work, cost control, labour and copper prices can all move against a brownfield project, meaning a restart at an existing mine, even when infrastructure is already in place.
The country backdrop is also moving fast. Argentina has had no large-scale copper production since Alumbrera closed in 2018, but a government mining report cited by Panorama Minero identified nine advanced copper projects and more than $28 billion of required investment across the pipeline.
Chief Executive Gary Nagle has framed copper as the cleaner part of Glencore’s growth story after a year in which the company still leaned on trading and coal cash flows. In February, he said second-half momentum was “clear,” pointing to higher metals prices and improved production volumes, especially copper. Reuters
For now, the Sandvik order gives Glencore a small but concrete milestone ahead of this week’s production update. Investors will want more than hardware: dates, capital discipline and evidence that 2026 really is the trough for copper output.
